<p>My D is a junior this year. She would like to study engineering, most likely chemical engineering. She is an Honors track student in high school currently taking HAP Calculus, HAP English Lit. etc.. Her 5 semester stats are as follows 4.58/5 W and 3.89/4 UW, she is 13/741 in her class, she has taken the ACT (31 Composite) and SAT (2190 C, 690M/790R/710W). She would like to take both again primarily to improve her math score (she claims she needs to bone up on her plain geometry since she took it in 8th grade). Her primary EC is playing the viola in 3 orchestras, tutoring viola students and volunteering at church. She will be attending Purdue's STEP program this summer.</p>
<p>We make a modest income of about $60k per year and will be able to meet all the EFC, however, I would like my daughter to graduate with a minimum of college loans. This is our strategy for selecting colleges to visit and apply for. Each of our choices must at least have an accredited engineering program. We also have a donut of less than 500 miles from home and she doesn't want to attend school in the city we live in. We live in Ohio.</p>
<p>1 Stretch Schools. Visit schools which are need blind and cover 100% of need. Example would be WashU, Northwestern, and Vanderbuilt.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Schools she is likely to get accepted to but she would not be able to attend unless she were able to get merit aide. Examples, Case Western, CMU, Purdue, possibly UIUC (I realize that one isn't a lock for acceptance either)</p></li>
<li><p>Safety schools where with just a little help we should be able to afford or possibly get a full ride or near full ride. Examples, Ohio State, University of Toledo, University of Akron. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>She is also attracted to schools with strong Coop programs. I might attempt to get her to consider stretching her donut a bit and consider U of Minnesota.</p>
<p>Any other things we should consider in our search or schools people feel I should consider? Thank you in advance for your help.</p>
<p>I would add Iowa State to your list. Not sure exactly where it stands for costs for you, etc. but well worth a look, beautiful campus, highly rated engineering program, probably as close, if not closer than MN. Merit aid at the U of MN is not great but with your income you should expect fairly healthy fed aid.</p>
<p>I would also do a quick check of off-campus living costs in the various areas. That can make a huge difference in overall costs down the road.</p>
<p>My junior said the same thing about the geometry on the ACT/SAT…there is a lot of it and they had it so long ago they don’t remember most of it.</p>
<p>This is perhaps stretching your 500 mile limit but you might consider Iowa State. They are desperate for female engineering students. I have heard of female engineering students getting full rides with the scores and grades that your daughter has. It is inexpensive to begin with and there is no way that you will be a full OOS pay to ISU. At worst, you will probably pay instate rates but I bet you will do better than that. Instate full COA is about $18,000 or so.</p>
<p>Iowa State is a great place and a top 50 engineering school but a notch below Purdue.
They have one of the largest engineering career fairs in the country in Spring and Fall…about 300 employers. </p>
<p>Is there any chance your D will be a NMSF? U of MN has great merit aid for National Merit finalists.</p>
<p>My D is a junior at a university in southwestern Ohio, and we live in Minnesota so we make the trip (in the opposite direction) several times a year. It is a long trip, but we always do it in one day.</p>
<p>Does she plan to play viola in college? That can be a hook, especially if she has played with a variety of chamber groups, string quartets, and orchestras. A friend’s daughter was admitted to Stanford for her excellent academic record and musical talent. One of the groups really needed a violist. Your D could check out the music ensembles there to see if one would fit her style and talk to the ensemble leaders during a visit. It is not w/i your 500 mile radius but may be worth checking out. They offer excellent financial aid too.</p>
<p>Accredited engineering program with fantastic placement record. Great music program. I think it is just within your 500-mile bubble. Covers 100% of need.</p>
<p>I would add the University of Delaware to your daughter’s list, as well. Excellent engineering programs, particularly chemical engineering, she would be a great candidate for the honors program which includes free music lessons with a successful audition. They are also generous to out of state students.</p>
<p>I second Smith. I will be enrolling there to study engineering. </p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh, roughly 175 miles away (I used Ohio—>Pittsburgh on Maps, so not sure what part of Ohio you are in). I received a full tuition scholarship and engineering scholarship. Being a female will help your daughter with scholarships.</p>
<p>As for Stanford- their financial aid policy is----- families making under 60,000 (or 65,000) dollars get a FULL RIDE. Families making under 100,000 dollars do not pay tuition.</p>
<p>IMHO, I do not think NU and WASHU are stretches for a D interested in engineering, I think they are good fits, especially if she applies ED. Hats off to her, for a heck of a job. </p>
<p>My D had similar stats, and graduated as a ChemE from NU, and it was cheaper out of pocket for her to go to NU that all the other schools she applied at, including UIUC (our in-state school), Iowa State, Purdue and Rose Hulman. BTW - My D was runner up for Co-Op Student of the year, and the NU program is definitely a good one.</p>
<p>Good luck to her, and relax! Have fun and enjoy this.</p>
<p>Yes, she will not choose a school if she cannot continue playing her instrument. She plays with the Dayton Youth Philharmonic, her High School Symphonic Orchestra and her high school has an alternative strings group which plays bluegrass, Celtic, Swing etc. She really enjoys it.</p>
<p>If Smith is OK with her, she might also consider [The</a> Margaret Jones Wyllie '45 Engineering Program | Sweet Briar College](<a href=“http://sbc.edu/engineering]The”>Sweet Briar College) which is also ABET accredited. Sweet Briar is not as selective as Smith overall, so chances of merit-type aid may be better there.</p>
<p>Sweet Briar is extremely small, less than 1,000 students. I think it has 600. So maybe your daughter wants bigger. I believe it’s in rural VA as well.</p>
<p>^I have a niece who is a sophomore at Sweet Briar - it’s a great place for young women who like horses, and it does have engineering, but it is small and in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>Look into Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. It’s a great, but underrated engineering university w/excellent financial aid for DD’s stats, coop program, lots of corporate sponsors, internships, etc. Campus is vastly improved w/new student union. Toured Saturday - was very impressed - for a serious student who’s career-focussed. Better offering than Rose Hulman, in my opinion, because of opportunities due to location, comparable academics, and more interesting environment (in Chicago, versus Terre Haute). IIT can easily be cheaper than UIUC for even in-state excellent HS students.</p>
<p>If your D is comfortable with the idea, consider stretching the 500 mile limit if an ideal school/scholarship combo exists in a location with easy airline access (ideally direct flights, decent pricing, availability of mass transit or shuttle to campus). If there are friends or family nearby, better yet. </p>
<p>Our son is in Boston, 2000 miles away. It does take him almost a full day of travel to get home to Denver (4 hr flight + airport logistics on both end)… but no longer than a 500 mile drive. Flights cost more, but in many cases a good scholarship can compensate. The lack of flexibility for spontaneous visits (by student or parent) is a definite disadvantage.</p>
<p>Not sure how far they are from you, but look at Marquette University. Brand new, as of this year, engineering building. My S is in his first year as a finance major, but I follow the engineering school because I am an engineer. They are strong on internships, faculty is very involved and they are relatively inexpensive compared to many other schools. Worth a look.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000 we will be visited Pitt this summer. She wants to visit Carnegie Mellon so we’re going to stop by Pitt since it’s right next door. Afterwards we’re stopping at Case Western before heading home.</p>